Cycling the Bay Area & Stories from the Garden

Whilst my patio prepares to slumber…

…my focus turns indoors – specifically the indoors of my office at work. I picked up a wonderful new plant, a Croton, v. super California, which one would normally expect to find in only the warmest regions of the U.S. as an outdoor plant.

From my bit of research they are specifically popular and abundant in Florida with Southern California coming in a close 2nd. Never let it be said that I am not up for a challenge, and growing the plant here in Northern California, may just turn out to be a challenge.

Croton, v. super California

However, after talking with the remarkably knowledgeable folks at the Grand Avenue Ace garden center (not your typical Ace, trust me!) here in Oakland (on the Oakland/Piedmont border), I believe it will likely grow quite well in my office. They said that if my Anthurium was thriving in my office, that the growing habitat of the Croton are similar enough to reasonably say that she should also do well.

The plant is a fiery mix of yellows, oranges, reds, and greens that make it very flame-like and wild! She definitely draws a lot of attention, that’s for sure! The left side of my desk is now a tropical oasis that I can escape to for those times when I need a moment to stop thinking or to just regroup my thoughts. There is now enough foliage on my desk that I could literally build a screen to the outside world should I need to!

In addition to the Croton, the Anthurium, and the little rescue Poinsettia, I also have a Jade plant that I rescued from the rear walkway behind my office (this being the second Jade rescue for me – the other from my apartment complex is growing nicely on my patio) that was dehydrated, root bound, and near death. Getting a Jade plant to near death takes a special kind of persistent apathy, as these are some of the hardiest plants that I know!

I extracted her from her root bound, rotting wood container, cut away the obvious dead matter and was left with approximately half the original material I started with. She was in sad shape, he little petals all shriveled up like little green and yellow grapes. Thankfully, the rains of a couple of weeks back were right on time for a good deep, natural, soaking for her and the other office plants (fan palms and dracena). I gave her a new home, all new soil, and let her enjoy some much-needed rain for two-days.

Day one indoors - after 2-days in the rain

Jade Plant - after 3 weeks indoors

She is started to be able to support herself now and I will be slowly removing the bamboo stakes as she gains strength. She needed them when I brought her to her new forever home, and like a child’s training wheels, the bamboo will come away as she gains more strength and is able to hold herself up.

My original office plant, the Anthurium v. andreanum, continues to grow and grow, producing the deepest red flowers of any plant I have ever seen! The color is so red that they almost look as if they must be fake – I have actually been asked a couple of times if the plant is real or fake. I bought her as a little thing, no taller than 12″, that now towers nearly 3″ above my desk and has provided non-stop show of brilliant red flowers and green foliage. The only care they have needed is a nice deep soaking once a week (7 – 10 days) and the filtered light through my office’s frosted skylight. I have not given them any fertilizer at all.

Hi Christine, I am not familiar w/ Blotanical; however, I am definitely going to check it out. I am always searching for the next plant to add to the garden, and usually I approach the decision without a lot of knowledge, I see something in my local nursery that I like and buy it, then figure it out later. It will nice to have a ‘go-to’ spot for info.

Thank you Christine, I appreciate the tip! I hope all is well with you and your garden – I scanned over a lot of your’s and Barbie’s blogs, what a fabulous garden and space to live in and share with such wonderful animal friends. I love that you have both a cat and dog named Hercules! I am a big animal fan – had 8 German Shepherd until 4 passed earlier this year (they live w/ my ex-wife). Beautiful country and a beautiful garden.